- In chapter one, Toby was “brooding over the wrongs of the day.” What were the wrongs that bothered him?
- In what ways were the stability and strength of Toby’s family affected by the institution of slavery?
- How was Toby empowered by his family’s native culture?
- Hannah says that slavery has a way of changing people. How did being slave owners change the moral character of the members of the Allen family? How were other characters changed by slavery around them?
- What different groups of people participated in the resistance to slavery and why?
- In 1850, what were some of the obstacles to the abolition of slavery?
- In what ways did Toby demonstrate that he really was as clever as Br’er Rabbit’s own boy?
- Do you think that Toby’s character changed over the course of the story? In what ways?
- How did both slave holders and abolitionists both use the same Bible to support opposing positions regarding the legitimacy of slavery in the eyes of their god? Does this same pattern exist in American society today–people using scripture to endorse opposing points of view?
- What surprised you about slavery and the Underground Railroad?
- The “Compromise of 1850” is best known for its inclusion of the Fugitive Slave Law, requiring Northerners, public officials, and members of the United States Army to assist in the capture and return of runaway slaves. How do you think this law contributed to sectional tensions and the eventual American Civil War?
- How do you feel about the ending of the story? What do you think will happen next in the characters’ lives?
Geoff Ryman: “I think that it’s a good thing for the imagination to do to try to imagine someone else’s life. I see no other way to be moral, . . . Otherwise you end up sympathizing only with yourself” (qtd. in Writing the Other, Shawl and Ward. P. 97).
